#so I just made up what I would do in this scenario

[brittle-doughie]

What If?: Deceit or Defeat?

(Scenario 3. Time for Shadow Milk Cookie to shine!)

You, as well as Prune Juice Cookie, Capsaicin Cookie, and Kouign-Amann Cookie were exhausted. You all barely won the round against Choco Drizzle Cookie, Green Tea Mousse Cookie, and Pudding à la Mode Cookie.

You weren’t sure if you could win against them in the final round of the Grand Cookie Games. Their teamwork, not to mention unforgiving strategies, were too well-thought out and coordinated to predict.

You didn’t want your team to loose, not when you all made it this far. There was only one way to win, and do it, you had to ask him for help…

You were out of options. Your team was exhausted, and if they fell in battle, it would be all up to you…

So, you decided to go to a private part in the locker room, where your teammates wouldn’t be able to hear you, stared at the mirror…and say the words that he wanted to hear…

“…I…I need your help, Shadow Milk Cookie…”

He’d never let you hear the end of it. The oh-so capable and renowned Y/N Cookie asking a Beast Cookie for help?! It was so deliciously absurd!

And yet, tempting~ So tempting that he’s willing to help, with no strings attached. For now. For he knows that he’ll get well acquainted with you very soon~

He can already spot certain flaws in the dynamics of the three sisters. The youngest is distracted and lured easy, the middle sister doesn’t take things seriously, and the eldest is so focused on one specific thing at times that she fails to coordinate with her sisters, leaving her a lone target.

You wanted to ask how Shadow Milk was able to provide exact flaws in their strategy, but that would just lead to you facepalming a second later. He used to be the Virtue of Knowledge as well as being Deceit right now, he’d know how to find the proper buttons to push to drive Cookies into disarray.

Time was running out, you had to chose whether to handle things on your own..or allow the Beast to come out of his cage…

“Hehehe~ I knew you were a smart one, ya cutie patootie~”

[evieelyzabethh]

Imagine streamer Jayce and reader, and Viktor doing a stream where Jayce and reader read fanfics of themselves before rating them on accuracy, while Viktor is just cringing in the background and making sarcastic comments. He dies at the [insert reader’s name] x viktor fics

Jayce definitely brings up the idea. His twitch chat is already insanely horny and he doesn't do much to monitor it. The second he catches wind that there are fanfics out there about him, he is creating a tumblr account and politely asking forcing you two to join him. Viktor, who isn't even featured on the channel much grossly underestimates the number of fics out there and is appalled by his mischaracterization and the fact that he has the most about him.

Jayce would give the internet ungodly amounts of clips to make edits from, you would try and play ball with the horniness before inevitably breaking character, and Viktor slowly descends into madness the more you roleplay what you're reading. He is holding the phone in his left hand, the other wrapped around your throat as his face contorts in confusion before shouting "My leg is where?!" He accuses the author of being a delusional virgin before moving on to the next one. Like he genuinely is trying to picture the scenarios in his head but the position switching becomes too much he loses track and gets confused. You have only made it through a reenactment a handful of times, and each time he jokingly asks, "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Viktor needs to be strapped down to get through x reader fics. He wants to leave! He is not having it at all. It doesn't annoy him that they ignore your existence, he knows it's a wish fulfillment kinda thing, it's more so that the mischaracterization is even worse. The whole time he's like "I would not say that!" "Can I sue for defamation; I am nothing like this!" Best case scenario, he throws on his reading glasses and starts criticizing the grammar and spelling. If it becomes a regular series, he has a button that makes noises from every time someone messes up there, they're, and their.

[minisugakoobies]

It's You - Choi San | All Yours

Pairing: San x Reader Genre: smut, crack, fluff, angst, roommates to lovers, BFF’s Lil Bro!AU Series Rating: M (18+) Drabble Warnings: sneaking around continues, this is just a very soft little holiday gift from me to you, San remains the sweetest and OC remains fully whipped for him Word Count: about 900 words Disclaimers: SFW, obviously I don’t own ATZ - they just inspire me

Summary: He was only supposed to be a temporary roommate. Your best friend’s little brother, crashing on your couch for a few weeks. That’s it. How did this happen?

A/N: All San wants for Christmas is Noona 🥰 I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season if you celebrate and if you don't then I hope you have a lovely day ❄️

Taglist is open! Reblog, comment, or send me an ask to be added! You can also send me any ideas/thoughts you might have for a future scenario - who knows, it might end up in a drabble! 💕

It’s You Masterlist 🐈‍⬛ ATZ Masterlist 🐈‍⬛ Main Masterlist

It's late on Christmas Eve when the last of your family finally leaves, and you can excuse yourself from your parents and lock yourself in your bedroom. It's late, so late that you consider for a moment not calling, but you're pretty sure San's still up. He'd made you promise him several times that you would call him today. But you've been too busy dealing with nosy aunts and loud cousins at the family party to do it any earlier.

It's late, but it doesn't matter. He's as happy to see you as you are him, his dark eyes crinkling in delight, and then his smile turns shy, like he's embarrassed at how much just the sight of you lights him up inside.

There's no reason for him to be embarrassed. Your glow mirrors his.

You don't want to hang up long enough to wash your face, so he joins you at the sink. You glance at the screen while drying your face to see him delicately scrubbing his skin with sudsy fingertips, and he sees you and pulls a face, making you giggle. It almost feels like a normal night, hanging out together. Almost. You sigh.

"I miss you."

San surprises you by looking surprised at your admission.

"What? Is that news to you?" It shouldn't be. The two of you haven't stopped texting since you'd left the apartment three days ago to head home for Christmas. San and his sister had left as well to have a quiet holiday with their parents. Since then, you've had to invent a million excuses to slip away from your family and disappear into your phone. The device has barely left your hand, every alert making your heart jump, knowing San is thinking about you as much as you're thinking about him.

"No," San scoffs, face relaxing into a pleased expression, a soft half-smile that fully melts your heart. "Of course you miss me. I'm amazing."

"Nah, I changed my mind, I don't miss you," you say, pretending to frown, and San plays along, pouting dramatically, and you can't help but sigh again. "Okay, fine, I do."

"You always give in to me so easy, Noona," he informs you, that spark back in his eye, the one that makes your stomach flip. "I think I’m your weakness."

He's joking, except maybe he's not, and you both know it. You settle in your bed, burrowing under the layers of covers, shivering because your personal heater is several hundred miles away. San does the same, lying on his side as he gazes into the phone, humming lightly. If you close your eyes, it’s like he’s lying right beside you.

The two of you chat a little about your days. His was spent watching holiday movies with Hanuel while his parents prepared a big dinner together for the four of them. You talk a little about your extended family and the chaos they brought to your house today. 

This is the happiest you’ve felt all day. Even when having fun with your family earlier, you’d felt a little off, like something was missing. Making San laugh now, watching those delicate lines around his eyes crinkle with joy, fills you with such a strong contentment that you can’t stop smiling. 

San’s laughter turns to amused hums the longer you talk, and he nestles lower and lower into his pillow until his eyes are struggling to stay open. You don’t even bother to finish your story, too busy adoring the sight of him. 

"Go to sleep, San. Or Santa won't bring you what you wanted."

“Mmm,” he yawns, pressing one hand over his mouth, “but Noona, all I want is you.”

“I knew you were going to say that,” you roll your eyes, giggling.

“It’s true,” he protests, quickly growing serious, “it’s true, though. I wish you were here right now.” 

You sigh. “Stop making me miss you so much.”

Both of you fall silent, watching each other through the phone. There’s a tension now, and it makes you nervous for some reason, and there’s only one thing you can think to say to clear the air. You’re not sure if it’s the right thing to say, but it’s the truth and you really want to share it all of a sudden.

“You already have me, you know.” 

You���ve known for weeks now. Weeks full of longing glances, lingering touches, and hurried kisses -  and sometimes more, in the rare moments the two of you had the apartment to yourselves. It’s time to admit it.

San takes your confession with a long silence of his own. Just when you think you’re about to have a cardiac event waiting for his response, he speaks. “I do?”

You nod. “If you want me. I’m all yours.” Can he hear your heart pounding through the phone?

San exhales quickly. “Mine.”

It’s an agreement. A declaration. 

He traces his finger down his screen, pretending he’s stroking your cheek, and your skin buzzes from the mere suggestion. A warmth like you've never felt before spreads over you, soft and tender, so like the man gazing at you through the phone. 

Tiredness begins to tug at you. Only one more sleep ‘til Christmas, then one more ‘til you’re back home.

And back in San’s arms. 

"Merry Christmas, San," you whisper.

"Merry Christmas," he echoes softly. "Sweet dreams, Noona."

If you liked this fic, please consider reblogging! Likes do not help it get seen by other readers. 💕

Taglist: @sweetnspicy-noona @krystal-a @jennylychee @hiefisch

© 2023-24 by minisugakoobies. Crossposted to AO3. Please do not copy or repost. I do not allow translations of my work.

[gatorbites-imagines]

Merry Christmas!!!!

so since it’s Christmas for me rn I was wondering if we could get some cute scenario with Tim drake, like him and his bf ending up under a mistletoe, or a snowball fight

I’m a sucker for fluff and just want some cute Christmas time!!!

Tim Drake x Hero male reader

Headcanons

I had iceman from the x-men on my mind as I wrote this. How was everyones holidays? Did yall get what you wanted? I got a weighted blanket, some books and kitchen stuff. I also got blasphemous 2, I’m not that good at it.

Having to patrol Christmas night was always a bummer, but crime never sleeps. In reality, crime got worse around these times of the year since people got so easily distracted and so many things were put inside stores.

Luckily for Tim, you were invited to the manor for the holidays this year since you guys have been dating for a while. Last year Tim celebrated with your family, so now you were joining his.

This also meant you joined up for patrol, meaning the bats had a whole new surprise in their arsenal, seeing as you could control ice, cold, water, so on and so forth.

It made dealing with criminals easy, since none of the rogues were out and about. Two-face, killer croc and Firefry apparently weren’t in Arkham, but they all seemed to be more focused on the actual holidays than crime. This just left you guys with some everyday criminals.

For you and Tim, this patrol felt more like a date than anything else. Apparently, Red Robin dating one of the known heroes from another city was enough to make the people you passed feel giddy.

You had been staying with the Waynes for the whole week leading up to the holidays, so you had patrolled for just as long. This also gave the Gotham citizens enough time to set up mistletoes and little goody bags wherever you guys were patrolling.

How the hell did the locals even get a mistletoe all the way up on a specific gargoyle you two liked to sit under as you enjoyed your hot chocolate? Gotham locals scared you sometimes with how determined they were, but it did make Tim blush, if only a little.

Later on, hed blame it on how cold it was, and the fact that you were pretty much made of ice when using your powers. It didn’t stop you from giving him a small peck though, even though it leaves his lips completely pink, and his face flushed from the cold.

You end up getting scolded by some of the Gotham locals. Theres no real heat behind it. It’s more the fact that they didn’t know you were coming, so none of them prepared gifts for you.

The bats never asked for gifts, but you learn they always get some from the locals, even if they try to turn them away. You think its pretty damn neat, and you damn near cry when an older lady gifts you a scarf she stayed up all night to make. It’s even got your blues and Tims reds, since you guys are very obvious.

When crimes are as low as it can get in Gotham, you spend time making sculptures around town with your powers. Most of them are of the bats, and yeah, there’s about twice as many of Tim as everyone else. You never go into enough detail for their identities to be obvious, but it’s just your way of bonding with the city.

With Gotham having the weather it does, the snow also tends to be pretty damn sucky. Luckily for them, your powers are very useful in turning it into nice white snow, perfect for snowmen and snowballs.

Some people are weary of you because of Freeze, but seeing you hang around the bats gets people outdoors. You being as friendly as you are, supplying people with snowballs into their hands, also helps.

None of the bats are really the type to just come down and play in the snow like you, throwing snowballs after some of them does help. Soon Nightwing, Spoiler and Signal are mixed into the snow fight.

The others are too serious or weary to just let loose. You know the other bats are as vigilant as the ones watching from the roofs, so are you, but you do wish your boyfriend would join.

You get him back later by shoving snow down the back of his suit when he isn’t paying attention to you. Tim can’t get you back since you’re pretty much made of ice, but he gets you back one way of another.

The holidays with the Bats is a whole experience, since they come from so many cultures. Theres so many different traditions and food, and its all worked into the celebration somehow.

Even a couple of your own traditions are worked into the celebration, if there’s anything specific your family does during the holidays, that Tim picked up last year.

You guys all get together to watch a movie together as well, even if some of the bats argue and throw some punches. The normal animosity between some of them is put away for the day, if there is any. But with a family that size you wouldn’t be shocked if someone was arguing.

You and Tim cuddle during the movie, of course, and you’re also wearing matching Christmas sweaters. They’re Green Lantern themed, and you note that none of the family members are wearing Batman shirts. Later you learn that this is one of their traditions, since Bruce one year got broody about it. Now he joins the tradition by wearing a superman sweater.

Theres mistletoes all over the manor, mainly because of you and Tim, and whoever else is brought to the manor as a romantic partner if there are any.

Tim is not the most comfortable with kissing in front of his whole family, so instead it just becomes pecks on the cheek. You end up freezing Jason’s tea right in his mug after he makes enough jokes about it.

In the morning you and Tim share gifts in his room, just the ones meant for you two, before you guys go down to join the others, in matching pajamas, obviously.

Before you guys leave Tims room he gives you a kiss that’s almost enough to make you melt, as payback for the snow in his suit. You don’t mind too much, even if some of his family joke about your red face and how smug Tim looks.

[verystrxxwberry]

 ELDARYA CHRISTMAS SCENARIOS!

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𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: Long scenarios, individual character x reader, fluff, slightly tiny little bit suggestive on leiftan’s part??, sfw and fluff in general :) ��� 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: Merry Christmas everyone!! I’m sorry for posting this quite late, I like to do stuff at the last moment hehe. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this! I'm sorry for any misspellings!!!

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EZAREL – First snow

The elf had spent several days on a mission, which would result in a nice nap in your room. Because, yes, when Ezarel is tired your bed is much more appetizing than his. While you read to keep yourself awake, Ezarel cuddled one of the many pillows on your bed. You could hear his breathing steady and calm, finally resting after the exhaustion away from you. Time had passed quickly, both for you and for him, and the sun had hid in the horizon. The room was getting darker and darker and for the sake of your eyes you had to turn on the lamp in the bedside table. You closed the book and set it aside, curling up under the comforter next to Ezarel. You felt sorry for him, and how his face had troubling dark circles under his eyes. Taking enough courage to face the cold winter atmosphere, you left the bed and your room, heading to the kitchen. You wanted to spoil Ezarel when he woke up from his not-so-little nap, and that concluded in giving him hot chocolate with marshmallows. You had a hard time convincing Karuto, but he allowed you the luxury of taking two cups since it was, after all, that time of the year in Eldarya.

Once you returned to the room, the aroma of chocolate was enough to rouse Ezarel from his precious sleep. You heard a grunt coming from the elf, who was hiding his head under the pillow he was hugging, as a sign of his awakening. “Oh, I thought you were dead,” you said jokingly, moving towards him. He pushed the pillow away from his arms and rubbed his face wearily, trying to look as awake as possible. “Are you okay?”

With a sigh he uncovered his face and turned his gaze to you, still coming out of his trance. Slowly he nodded. You could see that his hair was quite messy, which was adorable. “The temperatures have dropped...” his voice was hoarse from exhaustion. “What have you brought? It smells too good” He asked as he continued to lie down. He didn't seem to have much desire to get up. Seeing Ezarel so comfortable filled your heart with warmth. You walked over and finally sat down on the edge of the bed, showing him the cups. That was enough to make him sit up. 

“I brought a gift,” you mused with a soft smile. The elf redid his ponytail and hugged you by the shoulders, causing you to almost throw the chocolate onto the bed.

“Ooooh, thank you so much!” He said to you in a firmer, more awake voice. To help you settle in, he made a space in the bed for you, holding his own mug in his lap. You settled in next to him and both of you began to consume the sweet contents of the cup. “That's amazing, thanks for the thoughtfulness, hun.” 

The sweet and savory combination of hot chocolate and marshmallows invaded your mouth, you wanted to melt from how good something hot felt with the temperature so low that day. “Yes it's true that it's quite cold today...” You muttered, covering your lap with the blanket. You got a playful look back from him. And without having time enough to think about what he was up to, you felt something icy on your leg. His foot. With a jump you jumped up, letting out a small squeak, “Ezarel!” Your reaction was all he needed to burst out laughing. “My God, nasty!” you felt a shiver, not only from the cold, but from the fact that a foot had touched your leg.

“Just know that my foot is clean,” he said with a chuckle, watching your body go numb with disgust. “I think if you pull the blind down it will be less cold,” his suggestion didn’t sound that bad. With your free hand, you pulled aside the curtain to lower the blind. But you saw how the streetlights allowed you to see the faint fall of a few white flakes. The ground still retained its orange autumn color, hinting that it was just beginning to snow.

“Ezarel, it's snowing!” You exclaimed instantly, causing some interest in the elf. Somewhat lazily he threw off the blanket and walked to your back, looking out the window.

“Oh, that explains why it was so cold today.” He murmurs and you notice how his hand rests on your waist. His smile widened with affection as you watched the snow fall steadily. “How cute.” He whispered to himself. As the snow continued to fall, slowly accumulating on the ground, you were able to feel his lips press carefully to your head. Ezarel settled small kisses on your head as you continued to admire the snow. “I hope you're not thinking of going outside. You'll get sick.”

“But you have to enjoy life a little, Ez...” You glanced in his direction and watched how he frowned slightly.

“If you couldn't stand my freezing foot, you'll be less able to stand the temperature outside.” He genuinely mocked you, giving your hip a little squeeze. “Let's go back to bed, come on.” 

As much as you wanted to complain about the elf's decision, you knew the most logical and cozy option was to snuggle up next to your boyfriend as you watched the snow fall. Both empty mugs rested on the nightstand, your back resting against his chest while the blanket shielded you from the surrounding coldness. It was certainly peaceful, and the open call of winter. Ezarel's slow, rhythmic breathing against the back of your neck lulled you into sleep. You knew that when you awoke you would find the Eldaryan streets covered in snow.

NEVRA – Under the mistletoe

It was lovely how all Eldaryans had cooperated to decorate the streets with Christmas decorations. Even the headquarters had been decorated and in the center of the hall of doors there was a big Christmas tree.  But still you had not had enough time to admire all the decorations. The work had you stifled, the reports kept coming in, and you questioned whether the work would ever be finished even at this time of year. You wanted to spend it like in your childhood, without school, in bed resting and having fun with your family and friends. Instead, you were there, working in the library without a break. What it was like being an adult now... A soft grunt escaped your tired lips. You were sure that chair was shaped like your butt at this point from the time you had spent sitting there. You stretched your limbs, causing your foot to push the table a little and, as a result, a pen fell to the floor. “Shit...”

“Didn't they tell you to keep quiet in the library?” You heard a whisper from behind you. You looked up to meet Nevra, who was holding a small smile on his face, showing some sympathy for you. His hand rested on the back of the chair. “You look like you need a break.”

“Of course I do...” You sighed, picking up the pen from the floor and looking at the papers you had left to review. Nevra sighed with you, not too convinced to leave you there, exploiting yourself with work. 

“Put this down, darling,” he grabbed your hand, using his other hand to set the pen down on the table, ”come on, let's unwind.” The icy touch of his skin contrasted the gentleness with which he held your hand. With a tug he lifted you out of the chair.

“Nevra, I must finish this...” You groaned, though you didn't have enough strength to stop your feet, guided by him. You walked out of the library, unrestricted by noise.

“Let Kero handle it, he's been spoiling the kids all day.” Nevra chuckled, looking over his shoulder at you. “Have you seen the Christmas decorations?”

“Yes, from afar” you replied, meeting the peak of the large Christmas tree. You descended the stairs and could see that the tree was indeed huge. There were some children with their mothers looking up at the lights with excitement. It was cute. “It's bigger than I expected...”

“I assure you it was bigger.” Nevra's fingers interlocked with yours. “You'll see, in a few days this area will be full of gifts,” he told you with a certain cheerful tone as he pointed to the free space between the ground and the last leaves of the tree. As he spoke he was drawing you towards him, circling the tree slowly, ”there will also be for you. Christmas was not celebrated in my village. The first year here it was mind-blowing, there was a bigger tree, and Karenn got lots of presents.”

“And you?” you asked, looking up at him. Nevra looked thoughtful, chuckling softly and shaking his head. His footsteps stopped in front of the Pantry, his eyes focusing on yours.

“I received gifts, yes - all from my fans.... I didn't like them very much though.” He mumbled, looking up at the ceiling with a weary sigh. “But I know this year my gifts are going to be better. Even if they're not in great quantity, they're going to be of the best quality.” The assurance in his words made you laugh.

“You're too confident.” You said jokingly, poking his arm lightly. With a soft playful groan he looked back at you, then looked away again. 

“To not be, sweetheart, since it seems my beauty has caught your eye,” he giggled even more, nuzzling your chin delicately and making you look up. Oh, the mistletoe... “You hadn't even noticed, huh?”

“You did it on purpose...” You noticed a certain warmth in your cheeks, looking up at Nevra again. You were both just below. His hand slid down to cradle your cheek, using his thumb to gently caress it. 

“No, no way.” With some sarcasm he replied to you, taking a few short steps to close the distance between you. “You're going to be my best Christmas present,” he whispered, not even taking a few seconds to consider if he should. What was clearest to Nevra when he was with you was that he wanted to kiss you. His lips soon found yours, waiting for your response before making them dance together. It wasn't a kiss with any other intentions beyond proving that his words were honest. The love he was conveying through his gentle kiss wanted to make you melt. His other hand held your hip to keep you steady on your feet. 

The moment was so beautiful that you had forgotten the world around you. Nevra's essence was magical and enchanting, it made you feel unique in the world, like no one else existed.

“Fuck, not again!” You heard a growl next to you. Karuto was sick of couples kissing at the door of the Pantry, and God, you were interrupting the passage! It was normal for him to get angry. However, his reaction got a chuckle out of both of you.

“Well, that didn't work out too well...” Nevra mumbled, looking at you with a playful grin, “I hope my gift isn't over.”

VALKYON – Christmas lights

Your boyfriend had been so busy putting up the streetlights that you had barely been able to see him. You knew that going to see the lights with him would be a problem since he might have hated them by the end of the week from seeing them so much. You were surprised that Eldarya also had a Christmas market, but you were looking forward to going! You decided to shower and get ready for when Valkyon returned from the forge. Maybe insisting once with going would be enough, maybe a few kisses could pay for the tiredness of the last weeks preparing the Christmas decorations. This little dragon has a soft heart for you, so it wouldn't be a matter of minutes before he agreed to go with you. Just to spoil you and see you happy.

You heard the door open, showing Valkyon entering along with a yawn. He was used to finding you in his room when he returned, in fact, he openly lent you a copy of his room keys. “Welcome back!” you said enthusiastically, receiving a kind and warm smile. 

Evidently he noticed that you were dressed better than usual. He crawled on the bed until he reached you and kissed your shoulder ever so gently. “You look beautiful,” he whispered, you could smell a certain aroma of metal, fire, wood and light sweat from him, ”what's the occasion?” 

“I wanted to go see the Christmas lights,” the softness in your voice showed your hesitation for his answer. Valkyon was silent for a few seconds, looking at you as he nodded his head, waiting for you to continue. “Would you like to come with me?”

“Sure,” his response was instantaneous, and you were relieved to know he was willing to go. “Shall we go now?” What you liked most about Valkyon was how direct he was when he had something on his mind. He didn't even care that he wasn't dressed up enough, he just wished he could go with you. You stood up and waited for Valkyon to get warm. Together you left the headquarters behind. You noticed the change from the inside of the building to the outside, as the night allowed the Christmas lights to shine. The market stalls were also reflecting lights that coordinated each other's colors. Some stalls were red and some green, some red and some white... It made a cheerful vibe, as well as creatures playing instruments in the sweetest and most talented way possible. The lights that hung from lamppost to lamppost had different shapes, but also accompanied the familiarity of the time.

“Wow, you guys did an amazing job,” you expressed, the hanging lights showing some typical gingerbread cookie figures, then creatures with presents, then Christmas balls, snowflakes.... You could see what a great job they had done the last few weeks. 

“I'm glad you like it,” Valkyon added with a genuinely pleased expression. You walked through the streets, admiring the details the markets had to offer. From books to handmade pendants, from handmade bags to instant food stalls. “If there's something you like, let me know.”

“No, it's not necessary. I just want to see the lights.” You let him know until you finally reached a bench in a more secluded spot that would allow you to see the visual wonder that was Eldarya during Christmas. You took his warm hands to make him sit with you. “The lights look beautiful. But I think you're the prettiest light here.”

Your heart flipped a little at the cheesy words you said, but it seemed to embarrass Valkyon at how pretty they had been. “I beg to differ, you are the light of my life. I have done nothing. You have improved the lives of many people here.”

“Hush, hush. We are both each other's lights,” you laughed at how he frowned in embarrassment. His heart was beating faster than normal.

“Sounds good to me...” he calmed his posture and merely smiled, ”but just know that you look even better than those lights.” He pointed down the populated street, making you laugh at his insistence. As an affectionate gesture you leaned your head on his shoulder, looking at the Christmas stalls. Valkyon also rested his head over yours, sighing calmly.

“I love you,” you hear him whisper. The instruments played by creatures made the atmosphere more romantic between you. Valkyon always had the most direct way to make you feel loved.

“What did you say?” you teased, earning his neutral stare.

“That I love you. I love you very much.” He affectionately held both of your hands.

“Me too, very very much.”

LEIFTAN – Christmas baking

Leiftan has always been a person who prefers to stay in the background. He prefers to listen rather than talk, he prefers to see rather than do. He thought it was adorable to watch you bake, and he was sure that if he joined in, he would destroy the vibes. But this time you hadn't allowed him to watch and had dragged him into the kitchen to make some Christmas cookies. Before he could complain, you both had your hands full of flour as you kneaded the dough into shape. 

“I don't know why you don't do this more often,” you began in an attempt to break the silence, distracting him from the tree shape he was making. 

“What? Baking? I don't think I'm very good at it,” he muttered with an uncomfortable smile. You frowned slightly, seeing your partner's insecurity for most things that required some dexterity.

“Well, you're wrong. You're making some very pretty shapes.” You replied as you pointed to the cookies on the counter that he had made. It was very satisfying to see the shapes of little angels, bells and snowflakes. A small, shy, chuckle escaped his lips, shaking his head. “You'll see that when you taste the cookies you'll melt from how well you've done.”

“Really, love...” he continued to laugh as he finished his tree cookie and placed it on the tray next to the others. “Whenever you want, we can put them inside the oven.” He said to you as he washed his hands of the flour. You finished your little snowman cookie and placed it on your tray, then looked at him and nodded your head. Between the two of you, you placed the trays in the oven, and now it was your turn to wait until they were golden brown. In the meantime, Leiftan was in charge of melting chocolate to decorate the cookies later. 

He was quite a focused person. Only your playful side would bring him out of that shy side to do crazy things. With the spray can of whipping cream you decided to approach him, “Leif? Open your mouth for a second...” the smile on your face went unnoticed, because the blind trust he had in you was.... well, blind. He opened his lips slightly, and it was enough for you to fill the small space with a mound of whipped cream. He opened his eyes widely and swallowed instinctively, starting to cough from shock.

“Love!” He exclaimed between coughs, making you laugh even harder. But poor guy, he was red and all from embarrassment. It took him a few seconds to pull himself together, looking at you with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. “That's playing dirty...” he muttered and with his thumb he smeared the tip of your nose with chocolate. You made a small gesture of displeasure in jest, reaching for the chocolate with your tongue, which made him laugh. “Ah no, not that,” his thumb sealed your lips so you couldn’t use anything to clean yourself. In a quick gesture you tried to attack him with the whipped cream again, smearing part of his cheek and nose. You stuck out your tongue to tease him, licking his thumb. With a shudder he pulled away.

The kitchen was invaded by your genuine laughter. Moments like that with Leiftan were totally adorable and full of affection.

“You're dirty,” you said as a matter of fact, teasing him and totally ignoring that his hands had left traces of chocolate on your face.

“So are you,” he said in the same tone, taking your jaw carefully and reaching up to wipe the chocolate off your cheeks with little kisses and innocent bites. It made you shiver in a ticklish way.

“Are you trying to eat me?” you teased him, knowing he would be completely embarrassed. But nevertheless he answered you with a little hum, kissing the tip of your nose and finally your lips.

“Maybe,” he answered you with a gentle whisper. This man was going to kill you at any moment. “You'd have to be just as gentle and clean me up.” You couldn't help but get butterflies when he talked to you that way. He still had a trace of cream on his cheek, and there was a long wait until the cookies were ready. You smirked subtly.

“It's my turn to try to eat you then.”

LANCE – Secret santa!

You and Mathieu had decided to revive the Christmas spirit and celebrate a secret Santa the year you came back from the crystal, and it was the best choice ever! It became a tradition to do it every year. This year wasn’t the exception. Many agreed to participate, and you had had a month to get inspired and buy gifts. You were Eweleïn’s Secret Santa and with your budget and all the hints you had obtained from her, you decided to buy her some white earmuffs and a brown scarf. You all gathered at break time in a circle, and all the gifts had been placed in the center with the names of those for whom the gift was intended. The only thing that worried you was that Lance had been too quiet for the last month, and you planned to talk to him if that didn't change during this meeting. However, you could see the anxious and excited faces of some of your mates, even you had a certain adrenaline rush to know Eweleïn's reaction to your gift.

When she held it in her hands you tried to keep your expression as neutral as possible, and a sense of relief came over you when you saw the elf react positively. She realized that it was you who had given her a certain gift because she was giving different hints for her gift to different people.

You were anxious to know what it was that had been given to you and who had given it to you. You watched as Mathieu received gloves from a random girl, as Lance received a coat from Nevra. It was all very friendly, and you were delighted to see that Lance was more cheerful than usual around so many people.

You finally had the gift in your hands. You could tell from the shape that it was a box. You were very impatient to know its contents so you quickly got rid of the paper and, evidently, there was a box. When you opened it you found a box of chocolates, a soft and warm blanket, a book... and another small box? You decided to open the small box only to find a ring and a note that read 

“would you like to marry me?”

Your jaw dropped, realizing immediately that it had been your partner, Lance, who had been your Secret Santa that year. “What? Really?” you whispered in shock. Suddenly the whole circle fell silent, spectating your response. Lance was the one who had been the most anxious during the stay. He nodded his head slowly. “My God...” Still in awe you pulled the ring out of the box, looking at it with a big smile and a twinkle in your eyes from the illusion.

“Are you going to say yes or do we need more time for you to say yes?” Karenn asked, snapping you out of your trance. 

“Of course I am going to say yes. Of course I want to marry you, Lance!” You exclaimed excitedly and the immediate response from the others was to clap enthusiastically. Lance didn't think twice to get up from his seat and embrace you, lifting you a little off the ground.

“Thank you so much… Thank you so damn much..” He whispered over and over again. He gently set you down on the floor and then knelt down, taking the ring from your hands. “May I?” You immediately nodded with excitement, giving him your hand so he could place the ring on your wedding ring finger. 

Once again, the applause began, though Lance ignored it and focused on planting a firm, contented kiss on your lips as a thank you for making that decision. 

“Then the next thing we can do is start planning your wedding!” Mathieu exclaimed enthusiastically.

And without a doubt, saying yes was the best decision you could have ever made.

MATHIEU – Making snowmen together!

It had been very spontaneous of you and Mathieu to go out that night to play in the snow. But what could you do? Your boyfriend was like a restless child from time to time and sometimes dragged you into his bad ideas. Your feet sank into the snow with every step you took, which slowed down your running to escape the snowballs raining down on you from Mathieu. Each one of them hit your back, not hard but not gently either. You laughed, trying to counter him with your own balls, but missing half of them.

“You're really bad at this!” Mathieu said with a chuckle, hiding behind a bench. 

“Don't hide coward!” You exclaimed as you grabbed a large amount of snow and ran towards him. You heard him let out a rather high-pitched scream as he started to run away from you, but you were quick to drop all that snow on him, making him fall. “Now who's the bad one at this?”

“Okay, I give up...” He said with a chuckle, glancing in your direction as he shook the snow off his coat. It has been like half an hour since you both started that snowball war. “Let me rest...” He muttered dramatically as he lay there in the snow, closing his eyes and sticking out his tongue as if he were dead.

“Have you ever thought about doing theater? Because you'd be bad at it.” You jokingly commented to him, placing both feet on either side of his torso. He frowned a little.

“That's envy, I'd be very good at it.” And with a quick movement he grabbed both your ankles, pulling you to fall on top of him. You grunted a little, your hands on either side of his head for balance. With his playful smile he gave you a kiss on the cheek. “Do you want to try to make a snowman?” he proposed, caressing your waist affectionately.

“That's not a bad idea,” you nodded, standing up even though you had started to settle into that position. You gave him your hand so he could get up, shaking the snow off his coat again. You both began to roll the snow, bundling it together and focusing on making balls satisfactorily large enough for your snowman. The first attempt came out a little... small. He named it Max, your son. You used stones to decorate his head. The mismatch between many of the attempts was honestly hilarious. But Mathieu wanted to make a snowman that would last all winter, if possible.

“Honey, let's make one like the… animal crossing one, you know?,” he told you with a proud smile, ”so that even they will be proud of how well we made them.” Mathieu continued rolling up a ball too big for your liking.

“Ah, right... you know it is not going to come to life, right?” you teased him, adjusting the snow to form a medium-sized ball, which could fit the one Mat was making.

“We're in Eldarya, anything is possible,” and he was absolutely right. But when you put the two balls together, nothing happened. However, it was satisfying to see how well it was coming together. “Only the head is missing. I stole a carrot from Karuto for the nose.”

His happiness reminded you of that of a small child, and it was contagious.

“Is that so? Nice, one more reason for him to hate us,” your comment made him laugh as he helped you to form a smaller ball for the head. “I'm going to take care of getting sticks for his arms,” you let him know. Mathieu nodded, taking charge of forming the face to your snowman. You walked away a bit to get some wooden sticks large enough to fit the medium-sized ball. Mathieu was so focused that he was frowning.

“This is the perfect creation,” he whispered, sticking the carrot in the center of the face and putting a hat on its head. He didn't forget about the scarf detail either, even if it sacrificed his neck to the chilly atmosphere. You applauded him, honestly impressed by how well it had turned out for you. But it hadn't come to life.

“Good job, baby! What are you going to name this one?” You looked at him with amusement. Mathieu was taking the job seriously.

“Eh... When it comes to life, it'll decide that for itself.” His pride was evident to hide his lack of imagination at that moment. You hummed, thinking for a moment.

“Let's call him Valky, I think it suits him perfectly.” You commented, adjusting the hat so it wouldn't fall off. Mathieu's smile softened, agreeing with you. Even if he hadn't met Valkyon, he knew the importance he had in Eldarya.

“I'm sure he would have loved to see this.” He laughed, wiping the snow off your own coat. “Do you feel like going to dinner? All this exercise has left me hungry,” proposed the young man with a sweet expression. Your guts were roaring with hunger, too. You couldn't say no to him.

The next day Mathieu got sick from lending Valky the scarf.

✰; remember to reblog and like to support my content, I hope you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone!

[mikashisus]

KID AND LEVERET

synopsis: ❝ i was the leveret in hiding ❞ ❝ kid among beasts of metal and malice. ❞ the years in which you and kinich found each other, lost each other, and found each other again in a world riddled with conflict that was intent on keeping you apart.

taglist. @wystiix @pneumosia @kazuinvocation @pixelcafe-network

word count. 4.5k ( contents : angst, conflict, implied alcoholism, implied abuse )

notes. im so glad i was able to get this done in time, i was rlly scared i wouldn't be able to :') this is my secret santa gift for @knnichs !! i hope u like it zira!! <33 i put in a ton of effort to make it as enjoyable as possible despite my less than satisfactory writing 🤕 also, this was loosely based off yaelokre's song "kid and leveret" which i will literally sell my soul for. gonna loop that song for forever when it finally releases, mark my words

The first time you decided to run away from the castle had been when you were seven years old. At the time, your parents had sent every general they could out into the vast fields and forests to search for you.

A lost, small child would be extremely hard to find, but they were confident they would be able to find you. You couldn’t have gone far— after all, you had always been afraid to go outside the royal city’s gates by yourself. 

General Capitano, one of the most elite soldiers in Eirene’s military and one of your father’s most loyal men, had been the one to bring you back within the castle walls. You had kicked and screamed when he found you quite far from the kingdom’s gates. However, your tantrum did not phase him in the slightest. He simply placed you upon his horse and made haste back to the castle to return you to your parents. 

Your mother— bless her soul —had been weeping tears of joy upon your return, and immediately had the maids draw you a bath to rid your skin of the dirt and grime, and your hair of the leaves and twigs. She hadn’t left your side for days after that, for fear of her baby once again slipping through her fingers. 

The second time you attempted to run away from home had been when you were thirteen years old— seven years after your first attempt. It lasted longer than the last. You managed to get to the far outskirts of the kingdom’s vast land before your personal guard (and babysitter), General Capitano, once again found you. You kicked and screamed again, reminding him of the first time you both had gone through this scenario. 

However, just like the last time, he was not phased. He picked you up with ease and perched you on his black horse, taking you back to the castle. 

Your mother paced back and forth in front of the bathtub, her hands on her hips as she bit her lip. The two maids who were washing you eyed her nervously out of the corner of their eyes. One of them even shared an uneasy glance with you. You simply shrugged and stared at your mother, waiting for another one of her long lectures. 

A few tense moments passed, the only sound being the sloshing of the water in the tub and a soap-filled sponge making contact with your skin. Finally, the excruciating silence was broken as your mother turned to face you, her visage riddled with resignation. 

“Leave us.” She addressed the maids quietly, and without a word, the two of them stepped back and fled the room, most likely sensing the oncoming lecture. 

Your mother pulled up a chair next to the tub and sat down, folding her hands neatly into her lap. She nervously fiddled with her fingers as she took a deep sigh. “I’m not angry with you for sneaking out,” she told you softly, “I just want to know why you are so intent on leaving the castle without a guard. You could be hurt, or— or worse, you could die out there! Do you know how many times your brother had left? And what it did to him in the end!?” 

You resisted an eyeroll and a groan of frustration. You heard that story many times. The story of how your older brother, now long gone, had snuck out of the castle in his youth and wound up dead in a river a few weeks later. When your parents had you, they were insistent on never letting you leave the castle under any circumstances— unless you were heavily guarded. 

Understanding their worry, you put up with it for a while. That was until it got to a point where you felt claustrophobic. Being watched at all times was draining, and you felt as if you couldn’t even go to the bathroom without a guard breathing down your neck. You had enough— so you attempted to leave your unhappy life, only to be dragged back. 

“Yes, Mother. I know. You’ve told me this story many times.” You told her, avoiding her worried gaze. 

She grabbed onto one of your hands and held it tightly. “You understand why we worry, yes? You nearly terrified us half to death the last time you slipped away from us.” 

The previous attempt had been because you were curious of the world outside the city’s walls.

“I know, Mother. I’m sorry for worrying you.” You felt a little bad for the anguish you caused her, but deep down, you still had a desire to leave the life your parents were planning out for you. That, and you wished to wander freely without the daunting stone walls caging you in and without an annoying guard to watch over you as if you were a baby. 

You promised your mother that night that you would be reasonable in the future, yet, that was also the last night you ever talked to her. Because that night, you escaped for good. You left the royal city, posing as a guard, and finally, finally tasted the sweetness of freedom that you had been dreaming of for what felt like forever.

Life outside the royal city was harsh, and the weather was even harsher, yet you weren’t completely useless. General Capitano had taught you enough so that you could successfully survive on your own and protect yourself against foes. 

The first village you stumbled upon for solace was a riverside village— one with a number of fishermen and lumberjacks. They welcomed you with open arms, happy to have a new addition to their cozy little home. You didn’t stay long, but their hospitality had always stuck with you. 

One person that always stuck with you was a boy a year younger than you who went by the name Kinich. 

Kinich had been taken in by the others in the village when he was very young, shortly after his parents had passed away. At the time, he had been living in a small hut on the outskirts of the village. When he came stumbling over after all food in his home had run out, the elders of the village took him in with open arms and raised him. 

Kneeling by the riverbed and gathering water into a flask, you spotted something laying in the sand just underneath the shallow water. Your curiosity took over, and you reached forward to pick it up. Your fingers smoothed over its surface as you turned it this way and that, trying to make out what it was in the dying sunlight.

“It’s a seashell.” A voice behind you said.

You jumped and turned, almost falling into the river as you did so. The boy acted quickly, pulling on your arm to prevent you from falling in. As soon as you were safely back onto the riverbed, he let go of you and pointed to the object in your palm. 

“That’s a seashell.”  He repeated.

Your eye twitched and you sent him a look. “I heard you the first time,” you quipped, glancing down at the shell in your palm, “what’s this doing here, anyway? I thought the closest oceanside town was on the other side of the region near Seameet Port?” 

He wasn’t phased by your nasty tone. “It’s from Augustbury. By the shore.” 

Your eyes widened at the name of the desert-side town. “Augustbury is far South… How did you get this? Are you from there?” 

He wordlessly shook his head. “Another nation.” Well, that explained his foreign name. “Came here when I was young. What about you?” 

Looking away from his striking green and yellow eyes, you looked back down at the shell laying in your palm. You turned it over, silently admiring it. You always wanted to see the ocean. Instead, you had been forced to live in a castle in the mountains far up north. But now… you could do whatever you pleased, whenever you pleased. 

You didn’t have a guard breathing down your neck, and no parents to lecture you anymore. You were free. You could roam the continent and see the wonders the world had to offer. You could go to Augustbury. 

Realizing you hadn’t answered his question, you stood up and met his gaze head on, a determined look in your eyes. You made up a lie, claiming you were from Northpass— a small village located on the outskirts of Eirene’s land and a bit north of this one. It was a renowned hunting village, but considerably poor. 

Kinich, who’s expression hadn’t changed from one of stoicism this entire time, took in your words. Whether or not he believed your lie, you didn’t know. But he never asked any further questions, and instead leaned down to pick up another shell laying in the sand. 

“This is a conch. If you put it up to your ear, you can hear the sound of ocean waves.” 

The following two months, you met Kinich at the riverbank, and he told you stories of all kinds of relics he had found in Augustbury by the shore. Each one he picked from his collection had a story behind it. You listened attentively as he entranced you with his voice, and he’d look away from you nervously, not used to such attention being directed his way.

It was only when a herd of royal guards had raided the village that you decided it was time for you to leave. The screaming of the townsfolk as the guards ransacked their houses and threatened to kill anyone who was incompetent rang in your ears for days to come. The sight of blazing fire was burned into the back of your eyelids and the smell of smoke lingered heavily in your nose for weeks. 

The once lively village that Kinich had called his home ever since he was a child had been ransacked and torn, burned completely to ashes by knights who you had once sworn oaths to protect your family. A bitter hatred settled deep in your gut as you witnessed their destruction. 

The last time you set your sights on Kinich had been amidst your escape. His figure was aglow with the light of orange flames, and tears had been streaming down his tan cheeks. The look of utter despair had been one you never saw on him until that moment, and the guilt eating away at your heart never ceased. You had to leave without him, lest the guards find you. 

You never saw him again. The hope you held in your heart for years to see him once more had been snuffed out. 

“Thanks for yer help, Sir!” A sailor saluted Kinich firmly, stumbling on his own feet as he set the barrel of goods down onto the musty deck of the ship. “Without another pair of hands, we might not’ve been able ta load this here ship by sunset!” 

Kinich nodded curtly, taking a glance at the rather old and decrepit ship. “It was no trouble. I’m sworn to help those in need.” 

The sailor waved him off. “Whateva ya say, kid. Hey, ya need a ride back to Eirene?” The sailor wiped off his forehead with a dirty cloth and set it down on the barrel. “We’re headin’ tha’ direction on our way back to Alryne.” 

Kinich mulled over the offer. He wasn’t in a hurry to get back to Eirene by all means. He wasn’t expected back for a few weeks, as he was still on the quest the King had sent him on a month prior. 

The quest had sent him on a wild goose chase to find an ancient relic stolen from the King’s vault by a master thief with no fixed appearance. How he was supposed to find and capture the criminal when he had nothing to go off of regarding their appearance eluded him. 

All the information he was given was that they were last seen here, in Augustbury, and bought a treasure map off a merchant. Kinich had searched the town high and low, asking all around and even finding the merchant who sold the map, only to come up empty handed. 

No one could give him any details. Strange. 

On top of that, the lost royal highness, the King and Queen’s only child, had been spotted in Aeris— right outside the royal capital —just a week ago. Because of that, the kingdom had been bustling with activity and uproar. If someone located and found the missing royal, they would be paid handsomely by the royal family for their efforts. 

Kinich didn’t care much for a rumor, but he did care about the reward. Whatever it was. He’d gladly take the money and flee the continent to the piece of land bordering this region by sea— the northern, barren lands of a mountainous kingdom called Cairnfelle. 

He’d leave the guard and live out the rest of his life there, free of stress or worry. Knowing him, he’d still take up mercenary work. He couldn’t stay still for one moment, after all. 

“I’m not expected back to my post for a while,” he finally answered, “but there is someplace I’d like you to drop me off. It should be on the way.” 

Without another word, he handed a small pouch of mora to the sailor and hopped aboard the ship. 

The Island of Kairos was once said to be home to a magnificent goddess who ruled over time and wind. The legend stated that once, long long ago, the ancient people of Cairnfelle had erected a glorious temple to honor her and sing her praises. 

As the years passed, the temple deteriorated and the people slowly forgot their goddess, leaving the island in a state of disarray. It slowly became a place unwelcoming to outsiders, draped in a thick fog and drawing many ships to shipwreck ashore from the storms raging just on the outskirts of the fog. 

The island was said to have been in a perpetual state of early morning. Whether or not that was true, Kinich was about to find out. 

Many adventurers in their lifetimes had attempted to reach this island, only to get caught in the swirling protecting storms and meet their untimely demise. 

Kinich was risking his life to reach this island. All for a wild goose chase that he was sure was futile. But he had to do this. He was indebted to the royal family, after all. 

The captain of the ship stepped up next to him, a wary look in his eyes. “Are ya sure ya wanna brave that storm, kid?” 

“Yes.”

That was all he said on the matter, and the captain left him alone for the remainder of the trip. 

“We’re nearing the storm, Cap!” A sailor shouted. “What should we do? We’ll get caught up in it!” 

Kinich turned to the crew. “Do you have a rowboat? I’ll go through it on my own.” 

“What!?” One of them cried incredulously. “You’ll die! It’s too risky!” 

He simply shrugged. “I’ve been through worse. Ever fight monsters from the Abyss head on? A dragon, by chance? A god?” 

The crew was silent. He clicked his tongue. “A simple storm is nothing compared to the foes I’ve faced. Now, do you have a rowboat?” 

Bracing the storm was a feat of skill. But he had spent long enough with Eirene’s Naval fleet to get by just fine. 

It was as if the storm was alive. As if it was trying to push him back and prevent him from reaching the shore. But he persisted, despite the amount of saltwater he swallowed and the coldness of the water drenching his hair and armor. 

Finally, in a last ditch effort as he steadily approached the sand, he stood and launched himself off the rowboat and into the shallow water, paving his way to the shore with heavy arms. He coughed, choking up the saltwater that had gotten in his mouth from the swim, and took a few moments to catch his breath. 

He looked up, meeting the sight of looming pillars and the presence of an eerie wind. He had made it. Successfully. 

He laid on the sand for a short while, staring up at the foggy sky with half lidded eyes. All of a sudden, he felt tired. His whole body felt heavy, as if it was being pulled into the earth. His eyes, struggling to stay open, fell closed unwillingly, and he slipped into a deep sleep. 

The image of his parents filled his head, both of them working in tandem in the same one-room house. Confused, he looked around, taking in the sight of the house he had lived in as a child back in Seameet. 

His mother was cutting up their last stash of grainfruits in the kitchen, her hands working diligently as she absentmindedly hummed a tune he hadn’t heard in many years. 

His father stumbled through the doorway, a beer bottle clutched tightly in his hand. His eyes were glazed over with drunkenness, his words slurring together in a mix of something incoherent. 

Kinich felt his stomach drop. His mother’s eyes sharpened as she set down the cutting knife and rounded on her husband. The two began yelling, and he couldn’t hear a word of it over the ringing in his ears. He went rigid, watching the scene play out before him, his lip trembling at the sight of his mother. 

He remembered now. This was the day his mother left and never returned, leaving him alone with his father. 

He knew how this would play out. His father, in a fit of drunken rage, would raise his hand on Kinich’s mother, and leave her sobbing on the floor. She’d continue making dinner, only to stop midway and retreat to the backyard. His father would leave the house to take his anger out elsewhere, and Kinich would be left to cry alone. 

Then, when his father came back, they’d look for his mother, only to find her gone. 

He jolted awake in a panic, clutching his chest as he heaved and tried to make sense of his surroundings. He was still on the Island of Kairos, right in the sand where he had been when he arrived. 

He sighed heavily, his body shaking ever so slightly as he calmed himself down from the memory he relived. Scrunching his brows together, he turned to look up at the gargantuan, deteriorated temple behind him. 

Had that been a lingering effect of the island? 

He stood, his legs a little wobbly, and began his trek into the ancient temple. He searched the place high and low, but it was no use. There was nothing here— no relics, no treasures from a bygone era, just dust and rubble and the lingering scent of dandelions. 

Strange. Dandelions were Cairnfelle’s trademark…

Had someone been here recently? He decided to do one more check of the perimeter, just to be safe. He scanned the walls, looking for anything out of place that could give away a hidden room of sorts. He pressed along the stone, his patience running thin the more he searched and came up empty handed. 

There had to be something here. He could feel it. 

He slammed his fist against the wall in frustration, only to hear an eerie creaking of stone. He looked up, his eyes widening as the wall opened and revealed some sort of ritual room. It was filled with incense, freshly picked cecilia flowers, and dandelion seeds laying on an ornate plate on the altar in the center. 

He took one step forward, only for his vision to go dark. 

“Are you sure about this?” Leena questioned, glancing over at you as she leaned over the unconscious body of the man you knocked out in the temple. 

You shrugged. “Not really, but this sword’s incredible!” You gently ran your fingers over the blade. “This’ll sell nicely! Imagine the reward they’ll pay for a captain of the royal guard’s weapon! Lady Kairos is smiling upon us today!” 

Leena sent you a deadpan look and sighed heavily. She stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” 

Despite the insult, there was a fond smile on her lips. She took the sword from your hands and slid it back into its scabbard. “And stop touching it with your grubby hands! If you really want it to sell, then you can’t smudge the metal!” 

You raised your hands in surrender and took a step back. “Alright alright!” You snatched the sword from her hands and smirked as you gazed down at the man laying on the deck of your ship. 

Leena glanced at you. “What are we gonna do with him?” 

“He came all the way out here for our heads. I’d love to return the favor by cutting off his, but he’s useless as a dead man. We’ll send a ransom note to their royal shitasses.” 

She winced. “Will that even work? The King and Queen of Eirene don’t really care about their captains. The only thing they’ve ever cared about is finding their lost child.” 

“It’ll work.” You said confidently, gazing out at the pristine sea. 

The island was far from view now, only a speck on the horizon. A small part of you felt empty upon leaving. You had done your utmost to start rebuilding the temple to its former glory, starting with that ritual room. Ever since, you’ve received nothing but good luck. 

Fate, and Lady Kairos, was surely smiling upon you for your good natured efforts. 

“It’ll work because this man’s no ordinary captain,” you turned to glance at him again, his face ringing a bell in your mind, “he holds a beast within him. One that could destroy everything we hold dear. He’s Eirene’s ace in the hole— the one thing they care about.” 

Leena searched your face, a look of uneasiness in her verdant eyes. She bit her lip. Her orange-brown skin glowed under the dying sunlight.

With a huff, she let out a hesitant, “Fine. I trust you, Captain.” 

Your well thought out plan was in full swing, and it was only a matter of time before your prisoner awoke from his beauty sleep. Tasking your best friend and trusted right hand to look after him, you tended to that stubborn cannon down below the deck with another one of your crew. 

Leena sat next to the prisoner, tying knots into ropes and occasionally tossing a grape into her mouth from the bowl sitting to her left. 

The man next to her stirred, and she jumped as he began to struggle against his binds. His striking eyes met hers, and a chill ran down her spine. He clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing at her. 

“Release me.” 

“I’m sorry. I cannot.” 

They stared at each other for a few long and tense moments, before a small voice called out. “Auntie Leena!” 

She panicked, her eyes widening as she spotted her nephew running towards her with a full plate of food in his hands. He dodged past the other crew members, the food almost slipping off the plate. 

“Yanqing! Stay away from here, you’re supposed to be in the Captain’s quarters!” She jumped forward, stopping the little boy from getting any closer to the prisoner. 

He held the plate up, sending her a wide-toothed smile. “Look! Momma and I made you food! Well, I made it all by myself and she watched!” 

She took the plate from him and ruffled his blonde hair. “Very good! I’m proud of you.” She sent him a warm smile. 

He basked in her praise, before his golden eyes landed on the prisoner behind her. His eyes sparkled as he saw the intricate gold armor, the same shade of his very own eyes. He stared at the man in awe. 

You swung down from one of the masts, skidding onto the deck with practiced ease and waltzing over to the prisoner with a confident stride. 

The man’s eyes widened upon seeing you, his mouth falling open in utter shock. As you opened your mouth, he interrupted, your name falling from his lips. 

The smirk on your lips vanished, replaced with a tight-lipped frown. Leena glanced between the two of you, her eyes calculating as her brows furrowed. 

“Do you know him, Cap?” 

You didn’t  answer, staring the man you once knew directly in the eyes. He had changed. He was no longer the scrawny kid with an air of despair around him. He wasn’t the same kid that collected seashells and could talk for hours about the stories behind each one. 

There was no fire in his eyes. Not anymore, at least. 

He was firmly built, with defined muscles and a set jaw, and a bandanna wrapped around his forehead. He was cloaked head to toe in Eirene’s standard Sunfleet armor. He had joined the very people who tore down the village he once called home. 

You had nothing left in you but disgust. How could he join them when they took everything from him? 

If there was a deeper reason why, you wouldn’t hear it. You wouldn’t listen to reason, not when Eirene had taken everything from you. Well, almost everything. 

Yanqing gripped your leg, and you placed a comforting hand on his head. “Go with Auntie Leena. Momma has work to do, okay?” 

The small boy of eight nodded and took Leena’s hand. The woman next to you sent you a look that screamed ‘we’re going to talk about this later’, and followed the little boy to the other end of the ship. 

“Long time no see, Kinich.” 

Kinich nodded ever so slightly. “Where have you been all these years?” 

You gestured to the ship. “Saving up enough for this. I see you’ve joined Eirene.” You crossed your arms over your chest, the scowl on your lips a sharp sight. 

His expression softened. “You still hate Eirene…” 

“They took everything from me. And they did the same to you.” You spat. “Why on Kairos’ green earth did you join up with the enemy!?” 

A small silence passed as he glanced around the ship, avoiding your gaze. “After Eastlily fell, the Captain of the Guard showed up. He slaughtered the remaining men who burned down our village and offered us a safe haven within Eirene’s royal capital. I’m indebted to not only him, but the King and Queen who showed their kindness to us.” 

The mention of the King and Queen ruffled your feathers, and you slammed your fist into the wall above his head. His eyes wandered back to you, and he shuffled in his binds. 

You took a deep breath, trying to calm the rising anger. You stepped back. “You’re not going back to Eirene. Not unless I get what I want.” 

“And that is?” 

You leaned down, your face inches from his. His striking eyes took in your features, lingering a little too long on your lips. 

With a smirk, you giggled softly. “Revenge.”

footnotes. i procrastinated so hard with this piece, but im happy with the ending at least!! i'll definitely write a part 2 in the future since we haven't even scratched the surface of the mc and kinich's relationship in this au 😭 i might make it a bunch of small oneshots and turn it into a series that way! idk we'll see (mc is around 27-28 in the last timeskip, and kinich is 26. at the age of 19, mc fell in love with someone from cairnfelle and they had a child together. a few years later, that person was killed in the war between eirene and cairnfelle.) yes, yanqing is the same yanqing from hsr!! he'll be showing up as the mc's son in my neuvi fic as well bc the mc from this fic and the one from my neuvi fic r almost the same person! the only difference between them is that THIS mc is royalty and also gn, while the mc from "abandon ship" is the daughter of a sailor and specifically said to be a woman. and YES, our lovely leni made an appearance!! <33 it'll be mentioned later on in "abandon ship," but leni's real name is leena! she switched it after people in fontaine kept mispronouncing her name as "leni". tired of correcting them, she decided to go by the name leni instead. it's kind of a nickname now :))

© 2024 mikashisus. do not plagiarize, copy, repost, feed to ai, or translate my works to any other platforms.

[hueseok]

can’t stop thinking about husband!seokjin whose love language is annoying you yet making sure that he still gets a good laugh out of you in the end.

and so even though he’s aware that you get embarrassed by big gestures, it doesn’t stop him from going all out for your wedding anniversaries—going as far as surprising you at your company building with a huge bouquet of flowers that might be taller than you, thus creating a perfect scenario that your co-workers will no doubt gossip about for the next weeks to come.

you were in the middle of your lunch break when he texted you, saying that he was downstairs and that he prepared something that you’ll like. initially thinking that he was only going to give you homemade food since no doubt cooking is one of his best suits, you were surprised when you came down to the lobby and saw him with a big ass bouquet.

passersby were gushing, some people who knew him by face were connecting the dots when you appeared, and as if the item in his hands were not enough to draw attention, he just had to wear the flashiest maroon co-ords that screamed wealth.

not to mention made him extremely good.

you think it’s the sole reason why you aren’t as annoyed as you usually would by what he’s doing right now.

“of course,” you say, faking an embarrassed expression as you approach him. “of course you’d know where to buy a giant bouquet.”

seokjin grins and does the automatic thing of kissing you on the lips the moment you’re near enough. “happy anniversary, baby,” he says. 

your mouth can’t help but curve up into a grin. “happy anniversary, babe.” you place a gentle hand on his cheek to bring his face down once more, pecking his lips. “thank you for going here. i’m sorry i couldn’t file a leave. i would have if only—”

“you didn’t have to pitch to an important client.” he finishes for you, nodding in understanding. “it’s alright. i still get to have you all for myself tomorrow and the weekend, right?”

“definitely.” you confirm.

at the short silence, seokjin is prompted to hand out the bouquet to you but you appear hesitant in taking it from his possession. he notices it—laughs at it, really—but doesn’t tease you further, aware that even though it’ll be a pain to bring his gift upstairs back in your office, you wouldn’t want to make him feel like his efforts were not appreciated by not receiving it.

you catch him gazing at you fondly, and reading what’s on his mind, you playfully flash a glare.

“i’m only letting you off the hook because i love you. you got that?” you say.

seokjin chuckles, squeezing your cheeks and kissing you properly on the mouth, ignoring the thought that some might see the rather public display of affection.

“i love you too, my ____.”

[miriammctroi]

I still see some people wish they made a Marauders TV show instead of a new Harry Potter show. But you know what, I'm just gonna say it: I'm glad they're making a new HP series.

I'm glad they do that because it will be easy to ignore. We don't need it. I don't give a flying fuck about Golden Trio anymore tbh. Besides we still have the rather recent movies - they don't need a remake. There won't be anything new in that show, it will just be the bigotry straight bitch fest JK Rowling dreams about.

With the video game, it was kind of hard (for me) not to buy it bc it looks great and being a part of a world that used to give you such comfort as a child seems like a dream.

If she made a Marauders TV show that would be the worst-case scenario - all of a sudden there would be an actual Marauders canon, a new fandom and new fandom wars, suddenly they could argue about a canon. We come here bc there is no canon. There is no JKR fucking everything up.

If she produced a Marauders show we'd get: white James, obsessive & borderline toxic Jilly, James-bashing bc JKR is in love with Snape, one-dimensional characters, evil & bullied Peter, black&white relationship between Sirius and Regulus, weird love triangle story between James, Lily and Remus or James, Lily and Sirius, BlacKinnon or girly Marlene - or worse, both! No Slytherin Skittles, Dumbledore the good, etc etc etc

So, yeah, I'm glad she does the HP series instead of touching the Marauders bc it will be so easy to ignore & not to watch, it can tank. I hope it will be a flop and I hope she puts a lot of money into it and loses all of it. At least we are left alone and can continue making everything as queer and diverse as we want to.

[alittlebitofloveliness]

just read both of your posts about the outsiders scenario of ponyboy died instead of johnny, and now I'm curious — just theoretically, how do you see it going down if dallas was the one to die first? i know it's completely illogical and he's just not the type to die all of a sudden or be reckless in a "hero" way, but still. I'm really damn curious about how it would affect johnny, especially, as you have mentioned that losing someone in the gang would've taken a big toll on him.

Hi anon! I'm really having fun with this though experiment, thank you for the ask. If anyone else has any more feel free to send asks, and for anyone who's new to this meta heres part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Now, let's dive in. In what world does Dallas die before/instead of Johnny and how does it change the story's outcome? You're right in that Dallas isn't particularly illogical or 'heroic', but he IS incredibly loyal, reckless to a fault, and absolutely ruled by his emotions. He follows Pony and Johnny into the fire, and emerges with a burned arm. Now this action is heroic but also selfish, and reckless to the point of dangerous. Dallas easily could have been the one who broke his back and ended up dying in the hospital instead of Johnny. In fact, it was arguably his plan, as he and Johnny tossed Pony out first and Dally only followed behind immediately since Pony was literally on fire. I firmly think that when Dallas ran into the church he didn't have any plan other than to get the other two out no matter what, even if it meant sacrificing himself. Remember, Johnny is Dallas' living embodiment of hope, he cannot see anything happen to him, and like the rest of the gang Dallas is protective of Ponyboy- he also is gallant to an extent, Johnny wasn't wrong about that.

So Dally gets hit in the back with a burning beam and he gets rushed to the hospital and then he dies. Now, Dallas Winston doesn't do anything by halves and that includes dying. Since Johnny and Pony are with him in the hospital he dies a lot sooner than Johnny, maybe even before the rest of the gang gets there. Ponyboy's reunion with his brothers is made more emotional with Dallas gone, and Johnny- well, Johnny could go one of two ways.

In canon verse we see Johnny commit to staying gold- or at least not dying with hate- but this commitment only comes after he's accepted his death is imminent. While it's possible seeing Dally die would bring about the same realization as in canon- especially in a universe where Dally's death is less violent than it canonically was- one must remember that Dally was Johnny's hero. He looked up to him immensely, above anyone else, and had faith in Dallas that no one else did. I think seeing Dally's heroic act being the cause of his death might make Johnny think that maybe Dally had the right idea being cold and cruel and mean. Maybe he sees that and then goes to the rumble and enjoys the feeling of kicking the socs asses because he knows Dally would have loved it too. Maybe he sees Ponyboy, sick and weak, delirious after being kicked in the head, fighting through nightmares and horrified by Dally's death and a piece of him hardens. Maybe he sees Steve cry and Soda holding him up, watches Darry identify the body of someone else he cared about, sees Two-bit turn back to his bottle, and maybe he makes a decision. Maybe Johnny sees the east side and all that it does and thinks maybe Dally had the right of it, maybe it is better to be harsh and cruel, maybe it means he can take care of Pony and the rest of the gang better, maybe if he's colder everyone will stop treating him like a victim and maybe he can stop feeling like one.

I think the story could end with Dally's death and Johnny becoming exactly like him and it would change the themes but it wouldn't change the message too much if that makes sense? Like, it would still hammer home the ideas of cycles of violence and that people are people, and it's their choices that define them- but it would change the characters inexorably.

Thanks for the ask!

[elbiotipo]

Watched Strange Aeon's video essay on A/B/O dynamics and it touched on some really interesting tidbits on world building. Idk how much you know about it or if you have any thoughts on Omegaverse?

If not, basically how life/society would be with essentially extra sexes: cis men who could give birth, cis women who can knock up other uterus havers, how the world would cater for this stuff. V interesting 🤔

I know little about omegaverse, but I don't really find it that creative or engaging. Then again, I'm not the target audience.

However, without getting into specifics, I do appreciate when a erotic scenario gets into the worldbuilding and implications that such an scenario would mean, or when certain elements of worldbuilding have erotic undertones.

It's all in personal taste though, what one finds subtle eroticism others will call shoehorned fetishes and so forth. But what I really appreciate, even in a neutral sense, is when you design cultures, especially non-human cultures, and they have different approaches to everything. Making your non-human characters just be humans with tails is boring. They should have different ways of eating, of clothing, of living their life, of organizing society of perceiving the world, and yes, of doing it too.

In biology, we of course had to learn a lot about this. The very basics of sexual reproduction and sex (in the act and the definition) aren't that variable after all in animals if you look at the big picture. Creatures as diverse as arthropods, mollusks and chordates all present concepts such as mating, courtship, sexual selection, parental care and more. It's not unreasonable to expect many different cultures or beings to share some things in common (That's how you make some kind of romances work) There are lots of differences in the specific though, this is where the good bits of speculative evolution/biology lie, and I sometimes think that using human terms (for example, monogamy/polygamy or sexual/gender identities) is often a poor attempt to understand them (an attempt is made at least). It's interesting to study this kind of stuff and try to remove our anthropocentrism, but also, we find parallels and things we share.

In fact, when talking about humans, we have created so many ways to organize our sexual and romantic relationships, and our sexual and gender identities. I can imagine other beings capable of abstract thought and social organization would do the same, and what to me is more ironic, some ways will result familiar to us! I believe that when we're talking about sexes, the act of sex, and families at its broadest strokes, we would find things in common to talk about. The ability to concieve about such things lead to kinds of sexual and gender expression and family organization, at least in our own case that we know about.

But that's talking about animals in our own Earth. Then we get to the stranger things. The haplo-diplont life cycle in plants, with two entire different kind of beings involved in reproduction. Asexual reproduction is common in animals but it often takes the channels of sexual reproduction, the idea of reproduction by budding or separation and the concept of "genets" is something stranger. I don't even know what goes on with fungi.

There have been lots of science fiction and fantasy authors that explore this (I can't remember anyone specific right now) but I believe many take it as singular strange cases, when in a fantasy or science fiction world with many kinds of non-human cultures, we should expect this to be the norm. When you study biology, you learn everything is different and there are always exceptions, except we also share everything and there are always similarities.

[t1red-twilight]

through the ages

part 3

content/warnings: gn!reader, spencer’s pov, season 4, angsty, past!spencelle, guilt, jealousy, crashout lol

notes: bring back men who yearn

word count: 3.1k

masterlist series masterlist s. r. masterlist

prev. part

the office was quiet. spencer showed up early, just as he always did. this was the only time he could hear the buzz of the electricity, and the soft thrum of the heating and cooling system. after setting his things down, spencer headed into the kitchenette to make a coffee.

he knew that pretty soon you’d be in, so he fashioned one for you as well. best case scenario, you’d be in when it had cooled down a little. you took your coffee sweet, but nowhere near as sweet as his was. “diabetes inducing,” you’d called it. he’d told you that type 2 diabetes would have to be triggered by many more habits than just his coffee consumption. you’d laughed, despite him not joking.

your desk was conjoined with his, a pane of glass separated them. he walked to your desk and set the coffee cup down and sat in his office chair. your mugs were part of a set: yours had a star pattern and his had moons. he had still taken the care to label both of them with your corresponding names.

by the time you had come in, it was a quarter to eight. you usually showed up at about this time, only ever held back if you missed your train or the traffic got bad on the off chance you took your car.

“spencer!” you exclaimed when you got to your desk. “thank you for the coffee! how are you doing this morning?” it was as if your voice physically brightened the room, alleviating the harsh led lights.

your voice was melodic, it rung in a way that scratched every itch in his brain. “it was no problem. it should be relatively warm by now.” he smiled, hoping his cheeks weren’t too red. he lifted his mug to his lips and sipped a mouthful of coffee.

oh, you had asked his how he was. he thumbed the corner of his mouth where a droplet remained, and answered your question. he gazed over the glass pane dividing you where you had sat. “i’m doing okay,” he stated.

“just okay?” you followed. one of your eyebrows quirked up, you smiled crookedly. the glint in your eye; ah, you were teasing him.

he took another sip of his coffee and set down his mug. “well, not enough has happened today to say whether today has been good or bad,“ he answered. you leaned back in your chair and smiled at his response. “also, are you free tonight? there’s a film screening that I wanted to go to. it’s in korean, and there isn’t a translation yet, but i can whisper a translation to you like i did last time. did you want to go with me?”

an apologetic look blossomed on your face. before you even spoke, spencer knew what your answer would be. “sorry, i have plans.” you paused, almost as if you were contemplating on if you should say the next part. “i have a date.” his heart dropped to his stomach. a date? of all things that could occupy your time it had to be a date?

spencer swallowed down the sinking feeling that grew inside him. he nodded before he spoke, trying desperately to hold onto his composure; you could not, under any circumstances find out about anything. “oh, okay. i’ll let you know how it goes, though.” he stretched his lips into a smile as casually as he could. “it should be a good one.“

you took a sip of the coffee he had made for you. “please do! next time i’ll definitely come with you,” you stated. your eyebrows were slightly pulled together, and your smile had dropped but not disappeared. it would’ve been much more desirable to melt into his office chair than look at the expression of remorse that you showed.

the paperwork that he was normally completed speedily glared up at him. typical office days usually droned on and on, but something about his earlier interaction with you set him off.

suddenly, the taking of the clock pounded in his ears. he couldn’t focus, and he was always good at focusing. what about your plans was setting him off?

the times new roman print stared at him, waiting for him to do something. the contrast of the black lettering on white background burned his eyes the longer he looked at it. the bustling sound of the office grated his ears.

he felt selfish for the feeling of surprise that swelled in him when you had stated that you had a date. he felt even worse when he had the brief hope that you wouldn’t have another date any time soon. there was a piece of him that wanted to spend every waking moment with you and another very real piece that just wanted you to be happy. perhaps he was merely biding his time until he wasn’t the most important relationship you had.

it was just a date, just one. two dates was not guaranteed, and a lifelong romantic relationship was definitely not guaranteed. memorized statistics assured him of that. this was fine, you’d go on your date and go to work and it’d be perfectly fine. but why did he even care that you had a date? It shouldn’t matter to him.

how dare he think he could have any opinion over your love life? your friendship meant a lot to him, and he knew that it meant a lot to you as well. slipping into a jealous insecure mindset would only hurt his friendship with you.

he looked again at his file. he had already completed one or two, and was midway through another. he could just go home and watch way too much doctor who and pass out on his couch once he finished his paperwork.

by lunchtime he had pushed down his downtrodden feelings in exchange for attempted apathy. it did not help that every time he looked up over the glass pane he saw you, dutifully accomplishing your paperwork.

your forehead crinkled and your lips pursed. you’d comment or ask questions regarding the case you were filling out every now and then and it didn’t seem you noticed his minor distress. as far as you were concerned you were just friends, best friends maybe.

liking you the way he did felt like betrayal, or even like he was lying. you saw him as a friend, he saw you as something else: the difference in this perception felt almost gross to him. he’d known you for a couple of years at this point and felt this way for most of it and everything had gone fine until now. so, hopefully he couple continue to shove his insecurity everything down until you were just his friend again.

-

spencer had decided not to go to the film festival at all. later, he met up with morgan, and derek had dragged him to a bar that wasn’t too far from the office.

he figured that it wasn’t worth it to go to the film festival if you couldn’t participate in his ideal activity, which was spending time with you. it didn’t take long for derek to realize that something was definitely up.

the two of them were sitting at the bar top, derek had an alcoholic drink in front of him, spencer was drinking a water. “all right. pretty boy, what’s up?” derek asked outright. this caught spencer off guard, as he was trying desperately to seem like everything was going perfectly okay.

“what do you mean?” spencer replied, his voice lowered. he avoided eye contact, but tried to keep his face as deadpan as possible. given their profession, obviously this wasn’t working. derek took note of his slump of his shoulders, and the pattern he was repeatedly tapping on the countertop.

derek rolled his eyes. in no way did spencer think derek was stupid, he just thought that he could maybe get away with facing the confrontation of how he was acting. realistically, it was only a matter of time before derek called him out.

derek leaned his head down, trying to catch spencer’s eye line. when he was unsuccessful, he returned to his laid-back position on the barstool, and rolled his eyes.

given that it was a six pm on a random wednesday, the bar filled or crowded. there was another man sitting at the bar for down, but he seemed to be minding his own business. there were a few other people, but no one worthy of note.

spencer picked up his glass and swallowed his water around. seeing as he wasn’t going to elaborate on how he was acting or how he was feeling, derek moved on. he had some clue as to why spencer was behaving the way he was, so he attempted to test the waters. “i heard that someone had a date today,” he stated. he raised his eyebrows slightly, trying to gauge spencer’s reaction.

spencer slumped further over the countertop. one hand raised to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, but he dropped his hand as quickly as it had risen. jackpot.

“yeah. what about it?” spencer’s tone was stiff and standoffish. he said he set his cup down on the counter more harshly than he would’ve liked to. it was just a date. why did he even care? “i hope it goes well.”

derek worked an eyebrow up and denial, but spencer could not see it. he was still avoiding eye contact as best he could. few people knew him as well as you did, and derek was one of these people. it was clear to anyone viewing the interaction that spencer was upset, but it was especially clear to derek that spencer was especially downtrodden.

following elle leaving the bau, spencer had opened up to derek about his feelings, and the things that had happened between the two of them. spencer had firmly planted himself in the position that he would never feel that way about another person again. derek confirmed that he would surely find another person, and spencer vehemently rejected the idea.

spencer hadn’t been, well spencer, derek would have patted his back or rubbed his shoulders in sympathy. but, all he could do was provide comfort in the only way spencer excepted it. and, this was through quiet emotional support. they sat in silence for a couple more moments before derek spoke up again.

“are you sure about that?” any teasing down that he might’ve held had completely dissipated. maybe spencer wasn’t willing to admit to himself how he felt, but derek could see through him clearly like a freshly cleaned window.

if spencer was alone he might have cried. but the admission of tears would in some part be an admission of guilt for how he felt. it wasn’t right the way he felt, you were his friend. and he intended to keep it that way. spencer pondered over what he might say next.

“they deserve it. after everything they’ve been through i think they deserve to at least go on one good date,” he muttered. “or two, or three-“ he trailed off. his voice lowered as he uttered the next phrase. “and if they end up with a long-term partner, that’s all the better.” there was a slight flavor of sarcasm derek felt between the lines of with spencer was actually saying. and he would be lying too, if he said that it didn’t catch him a little bit off guard.

derek didn’t respond for a moment after that. If he was being honest, he didn’t really know how to. usually spencer was pleasant, if not relatively soft spoken. well, soft spoken when he wasn’t dumping copious amounts of information on a random topic. over the past few years your habit of insisting on listening to exactly what spencer had to say rubbed off on the rest of the team. this had approved, extremely beneficial and high intensity situations. though, some team members refused to admit it.

silent glances amongst team members were exchanged when spencer had started making your coffee for you. or, when he brought in little trinkets and doodads when he went on paid leave to visit his mother. that wasn’t something anyone was really quite used to. there was a rhetorical acknowledgment of something that might be going on between the two of you.

spencer opened his mouth and closed it a few times. derek noticed this, and was shocked that spencer didn’t know what to say for once. “what if,” spencer mumbled. “there’s a part of me, a very small part of me,” he clarified, “that doesn’t…want their day to go exactly according to plan?”

he finally looked up at derek; and his expression was difficult to read. it was a mix of confusion, deep thought, and something hard to read. corner of derek’s mouth pulled up, but he wasn’t smiling nor adjusting. this was an expression that spencer was all too used to, but he deeply disliked. pity; something that seemed all too familiar to him.

“i think that’s all right.“ spencer took another step of his water, though it still remained quite untouched. “that’s how you feel. and I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with that.“

spencer looked up at him in puzzlement. this was not the answer that he had been expecting. he had been expecting to be chastised, for he should be happy for how his friend’s life was going. “they’re my best friend. i want them to be happy,” he finished, and he unmistakably meant it.

-

as soon as spencer had gotten home, he had knocked out like a light. the next morning at the office, he was later than he usually was. he didn’t like to be late, but the morning dragged on and on.

the train was a minute and thirty-seven seconds late, the people walking in front of him were way too slow, and most of all he just really did not want to come into work. coming into work meant he had to face you, and pretend like everything was fine.

he still made your coffee. just the way you liked it, like he did every morning. he set it on your desk next to your computer and got right to work. he had so much paperwork left over from the day previous that he had to get done. he saw you out of his periphery, and looked up and gave you as genuine a smile as he could.

“how are you doing this morning, spencer?” your inquiry was not similar to the ones you asked him every single morning. and just like every single morning, he responded with a similar answer.

he sat down his pen, took a sip of his coffee, and met your gaze. “i’m doing fine,” his voice easier to keep steady than it had been yesterday. he pulled a smile tautly across his lips. “i didn’t sleep very well last night, but that’s no big deal.”

you shot him a sympathetic gaze, before setting your things down and sitting down at your desk. “i’m sorry,” your replied.

the clear sheet in between you too provided relief; he could perhaps hide behind it and avoid looking at you.

the silence that was momentarily held was broken when you asked him a question. “how was that movie festival?” spencer instinctually fiddled with the wrist of his sweater. it was his favorite sweater, he hoped that it would help him relax more easily today.

he rested his hands atop one another on his desk, and looked at the space above your eyebrows. maybe you wouldn’t be able to tell that he wasn’t looking into your eyes, not exactly. “it was good!”he had waddled back and forth between the decision of telling you if he had gone or not. obviously, he settled on the latter.

it seemed like you were much too tired to catch on the small tells that he was lying, seeing as his voice had risen in tone and he was fiddling with his sweater sleeves. he knew when you knew that he was lying, your face held itself a certain way. in some ways, you were quite easy to read.

just the look of you made spencer’s stomach sink. he didn’t entirely know why, but he knew that it felt awful. “how was your date?” he said offhandedly as he could. he figured that that was something that he should ask.

your face lit up at the mention, and his stomach sunk even further. it was practically at his toes at this point. “it was good!” you chimed. He could tell that you were being honest, there was nothing in your face or your body that hinted that you were lying to say face. and anyway, you wouldn’t have done that. you wouldn’t lie to him.

be smiled a small smile. “that’s great! do you think you’ll go on another one?”

you thought briefly for a moment, before responding. “i think i will, we have a lot of common interest. he also has an affinity for science fiction. i think you might like him.” spencer was lost on how he should reply to this remark, surely he did not like science fiction as much as spencer did.

eventually, he settled on agreeing that science fiction was a great genre. he and your mystery man most definitely like the genre for separate reasons, but in this moment, he guessed that that didn’t matter. unfortunately, they had something in common.

the awkward nature of the conversation might’ve been lost to you, but it was not lost to spencer. he couldn’t help but feel sick at the small talk that he was being forced to endure in the moment.

finally, he felt what he had been wanting. relief. your date had gone well. you really, truly were deserving of good moments and good people. if, on the contrary, it had gone horribly awry he might’ve felt near violent.

spencer picked up his pen and continued to work on his files. he paused for a moment, and looked back up at you. he opened his mouth and closed it a couple times before deciding not to add anything else.

quickly he was drawn into his paperwork. the pencil scratched away against the paper at moore quick and paste than yesterday, and he was relieved that his mind had finally calmed.

before he could forget that this interaction ever happened, you handedly remarked some thing that he knew would stick with him, even though it was completely insignificant. “i might need help finding movies to watch with him. if we even get that far.”

if he agreed, he would have to learn more about this guy that he already had a distaste for. on the contrary, he would also spend more time with you. and there was no mistaking that he valued his time with you greatly.

“that’s what friends are for, right?”

next part

[everestgale]

Blink blink blink b

Can i ask what you think are some hobbies or just casual things the voices would enjoy?? if you don’t want to do all of them rn i would love to hear about skeptic’s (biased)

Ooooh, great question!!! Let me see:

For the purposes of it, I'm going to assume the "usual" scenario for my voices, which is typically some sort of post-Unknown Together ending world (so no Long Quiet). Some HCs are just entirely weird/vibes-based, so, uh, you've been warned!

Hero: Probably has the most random HCs of all my voices. For some reason, I tend to think of Hero as a writer and/or TTRPG enthusiast. He probably tried to DM a D&D campaign for his fellow voices. Regretted it after session 1 /hj

Stubborn: Not being super original here, Stubborn loves physical activity/fighting, but I also have a HC that Stubborn would enjoy occasional woodworking. He also self-appointed himself as Broken's personal coach, much to latter's annoyance.

Broken: My Broken has a mild case of chronic fatigue syndrome, and as a result, he prefers to stay indoors. I feel like he would enjoy origami and knitting/crocheting; he probably made himself a few scarves and sweaters.

Cold: He is an interesting one for me (he always is, such a conflicting character for me). I have a feeling on some days, he sees no point in "hobbies" and spends his time observing whatever other voices are doing with their lives instead. On others, he goes through about 18 different hobbies and odd jobs just to see if he finds anything that satisfies his curiosity. Whenever he does start a new hobby though, he is surprisingly good at it, a very fast learner... which is to his detriment because then he gets bored of it too quickly.

Paranoid: As the resident medic among the voices, Paranoid had to pick up gardening to grow some medicinal herbs. He initially hated it, but over time, he's actually grown to like it; it's quite theraputic. I think he would also enjoy realistic fiction or non-fiction reading.

Skeptic: I am convinced that Skeptic would be a linguistics nerd. Really into different languages and especially etymology. I think he would also enjoy journaling, specifically in shorthand (I stole that HC from a friend). No one else can ever read Skeptic's notes, and that's not even a joke-

That's all in addition to some occasional reading (especially mystery novels).

Smitten: Just like Paranoid is the resident medic, Smitten is the resident cook! And baker! And he is *very* good at what he does. He knows by heart everyone's favorite meals and desserts; he can make pretty much any dish if ingredients are available, and he can make a feast out of just potatoes (exaggerating, but not by much).

Yeah, the voices would all starve without Smitten /j

Opportunist: Oppy is a bit basic in terms of HCs and primarily enjoys some good card games. Even when he is not cheating, he is actually quite good at most of them, but of course, Opportunist knows very well how to sneak an ace or two if needed. I also he would he a sort-of-collector (another HC stolen from a friend), specifically collecting small shiny objects like coins and jewelry.

Hunted: When he knows it is safe to be outdoors, Hunted just loves to spend time in nature. If not for his skittish nature, he would've loved anything camping. But as is, he enjoys bird watching and maybe photography. Please don't ask why photography, I've warned you that some of these are weird.

Cheated: Gamer Cheated is an inevitable HC for me: card games, board games, video games, anything, Cheated loves it all. Unfortunately, he is Cheated, and he very, very often loses. It is typical for him to play a game, lose badly multiple times, get pissed off at it, and swear to never play that game again. But then he plays it again two days later. For a more random HC, I feel like he would like either model kits or soldering.

Contrarian: He is definitely an artist, maybe a sculptor, and is actually, surprisingly, a really good artist. But only when he wants to be. And he pretty much never does, so he uses all his skill on intentionally terrible shitposts. Once a year or two, he will feel inspired and actually make an absolutely breathtaking masterpiece, before immediately returning to shitposts.

That should be all! These are not entirely set in stone either, it's more of my first instincts + silly memes, but it was still a lot of fun to think about! Thanks for asking!!!

[tubbytarchia]

Thank you anon, I'm so glad you see the vision!! I summed up a bunch of my thoughts in this post but it's mostly about hypotehtical scenarios and kinda cringe haha, so i'm gonna try and formulate my thoughts again as to why I find their potential dynamic so appealing

I'm forever plagued by the fact that they only interacted once, but that one interaction is so so important to me and I think says so much about how Doc would treat Jimmy. This may sound like I'm infantilizing Jimmy which I apologize for in advance, but Jimmy does quite literally get infantilized in canon and he tends to speak in a childish manner. He is very much not incompetent as if he were a child, moreso someone who's just been made to believe themselves to be that way, and that needs addressing first before he can rise to his full potential if he is to continue to try and get by in an environment that constantly knocks him down

As in the one interaction they had, in which Doc instantly picked up on what Jimmy genuinely needed, I believe he'd be able to pick up on Jimmy's wants and needs without direct verbalization, which is good because Jimmy wouldn't be able to place, let alone communicate the intricacies of his woes. At most, Jimmy is able to make blunt statements like "I didn't like that" or "This makes me unhappy". This is also helped by their dynamic in my head being explicitly not romantic, knowing how his romantic or debatably romantic partners have treated him (eg even Tango, although VERY sweet and good to him, fails to recognize Jimmy's continued need for support, especially when he doesn't communicate that, and goes along with jokes made at Jimmy's expense as easily as most other players do even though he means no malice)

You'll have to bear with me on the symbolism here but more on their interaction and Doc saying "I want to take you into my hands and take you to a safe place": to me Jimmy is very much a caged bird, but freeing him is not going to help him when the cage is all he knows. Doc could be that person to make it a safe place with encouragement and gentleness, in which Jimmy can have that push to both grapple with his feelings and open up, but ultimately leaving the cage of his own accord. Doc referred to Jimmy triggering his "parental instincts" himself, and knowing how gentle and protective he can be, I fully believe in him providing Jimmy that safe place he needs; to provide him a home in which Jimmy can feel welcomed back into, which is something Jimmy has struggled with (his tendency to run away from "home" and not daring to return if he underperforms at something or if he feels he's done something unforgivable)

This is very apparent now with the "I'm not a toy" declaration Doc made whilst viewed as a spectacle in his Skyblock prison, but in general Doc has never been fond of being played or made fun of. He does not let go of grudges and he will go to whatever lengths it takes to come out on top when his image is challenged, so he was always going to be able to empathize with Jimmy to some degree and I have no doubt he'd become defensive on his behalf. His competitive and often bitter nature is definitely not always a positive, but Jimmy could use someone as vocal and open as Doc to stand for him as he hasn't been allowed to and no one else (aside from Joel in recent times) has for him before

Basically I think Doc should be allowed to be a bit of a dad to Jimmy and provide him a place to help kickstart any healing because I believe him to do so if given the chance

[floral-comet-whump]

@paingoes delta if he was in daffodil but it's a doodle that's taken me way too long (two sittings across like. weeks bc I procrastinate digital art)

also I forgot to lineart the waistband of his skirt in the first one...... that's gonna bother me so bad repost where I fix it incoming in 5 months if we're lucky guys

LOOK AT HIM!!! baby... little guy.....

uhhhh how do I even talk about his lore bro...

contents (all fully fictional!): minor whump, war and genocide, war orphan getting groomed into being a child soldier, fantasy racism, so much child abuse bro

taglist (daffodil content is daffodil content!!) : @cryptozoolliegy @chiswhumpcorner @paingoes(???? hi)

well basically his species thing (which I have placeholder named [eels]) got conquered by flos (kingdom daffodil academy is set in) or an ally of flos. the exact reason hasn't really been discussed I originally suggested it just so he can keep his obviously non-human design

anyway delta (this is his birth name now I think. damn) got picked up at a young age. not young young like in his canon but he's still young! I'm gonna skip over a lot because I wanna give alia the stage for talking abt it, but holy shit daffodil got him guys. brainwashed baby. conditioned whumpee through and through!

this was initially bc he was very scared and. traumatized from war so he was terrified of what flos would do to him but like. no, he's treated well. he's taught stuff in lessons and has his own uniform made for him and can customize it and as long as he's good teachers are nice and tell him he's good and how he's so much more intelligent than other [eels] and that he truly is one of the good ones, and that daffodil is fortunate to be able to care for him.

also his psychic telekenisis thing is no longer a psychic thing! it's magic now <3 mage delta... battle mage delta... flos doesn't have the technology required to develop nukes but delta is absolutely a nuke. a percentage of soldiers are his guards since he's always so vulnerable after launching...

also!! he still has the sensory part of telekenisis, and as such he gets an equivalent of the psychic dampeners he has in destroyer. they're manacles this time! can connect to be cuffs with chains (seen in art!), but delta is very well behaved so they're usually just bracelets he's not allowed to take off! yay!

a visual I have issss delta pouring tea in a war meeting discussing how to utilize him. nobody is talking to delta, he's only being talked about as an asset. the most human interaction he gets is a quiet "thank you" from the first few actual participants and specifications for what they want to drink. the subtle dehumanisation in this little scenario is really nice... it's not blatantly referring to him as just a weapon, it's calmly acknowledging him as lesser as if that's a truth, and nobody says it out loud.

uhhhhhhh I think that's mostly it for the part 1 of this!! alia lmk if you want me to talk about how he wears the daffodil uniform or if you'd rather do that

[the-kinning-hour]

Considering he (at least in my own beliefs) grew up/lived impoverished, on the streets, I feel the need to point out just how likely it is that Mk1 Shang Tsung is just straight up illiterate.

I believe that Shang at the very least, with no one to actually teach him how to read, just came up with his own assumptions for how letters/symbols sound based on how people read signs or bottles around him. The small arrangement of words he can write with accuracy are those without silent letters, or that can be guessed phonetically based on simple syllables.

That said, he does write his own notes to himself, but they are genuinely illegible to other people. I mean, he was just making assumptions about which letter, if any at all, made “th” sounds or what the hell makes a “fff” sound because it’s F, but also P, but maybe it’s H? Why are people reading it that way? Why do multiple letters make one sound? What the fuck even is an X?

He never expected to have to show anyone else his writing anyway, so he basically has his own written language that often includes pictograms, shapes or literally made-up words or symbols sometimes for words that his human tongue just couldn’t pronounce. His words and language, written or not, came from whoever was around him. Be it a Zaterran, with their own language, or a visitor from far away lands who spoke his language but with a different dialect, or a Tarkatan who simply has a lisp because they have no lips.

I’m not really going anywhere with this but I think it’d just be funny to imagine like, Kitana and Mileena looking for any notes on Shang’s Tarkat cure that he may have left behind anywhere, or the Earthrealm champions scavenging for hints as to where he may go next, and they find his writing. And for a moment they believe they could’ve made progress. But it actually just looks like someone keysmashed in writing with emojis included.

Everyone assumes he’s writing in some secret genius code, maybe to communicate with other evil bad villains or whatever, but no. He is just illiterate.

[blackkatdraws2]

There are more things in the Parable than Stanley knows about. [Blank Scripts AU]